Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington is addressing the controversy surrounding a social media post made immediately after a Flagrant 2 foul she committed on Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham. The incident, which occurred during the Fever's victory on Saturday, resulted in Cunningham bleeding from her mouth and Carrington's ejection from the game.
Carrington's post, which read "WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever," drew immediate criticism and varied interpretations. Some, like former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, assumed Carrington was suggesting the foul call was influenced by racial bias. Acho argued on his platform that the call was a straightforward basketball ruling based on the severity of the foul, stating, "You hit her in the head. You drew blood. You didn't connect with the ball at all whatsoever… So to me, it was just very ignorant and, to some degree, asinine by D.J. Carrington to suggest that that call was based on white privilege."
Carrington, a graduate of Stanford University with degrees in psychology and African and African-American Studies, responded to Acho's comments on social media. She asserted that her post was not an assessment of the foul call itself, writing, "I've never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption)." She further elaborated, "I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it."
Despite her clarification, Carrington has not yet provided a full explanation of her intended meaning behind the "white privilege" post. She and the Sky were in Seattle for a game against the Storm on Monday night, and she had not spoken to reporters about the incident or her social media activity as of that time.
Acho, while critical of Carrington's initial post, did acknowledge that Carrington may have been attempting a "basketball play" to disrupt a fast break, though he noted the foul was egregious. "She missed, and she missed egregiously," Acho said. "She missed and she flagrantly hit Sophie Cunningham in the head."
Sophie Cunningham also addressed Carrington's post, telling ESPN, "I think the league is taking care of that. This has nothing to do with race." Cunningham recounted a similar incident from the previous year where she was ejected for a comparable foul, stating, "There's no reason even to play that card." She suggested Carrington might have been seeking attention, adding, "I do think when people play the Fever, we're nationally televised, there's a lot of eyes on us and people just want attention. And that's her just trying to get attention."
Following the foul, Cunningham briefly confronted Carrington on the court before being restrained by teammates and staff. Courtside footage appeared to capture Cunningham shouting at Carrington, but after the game, she downplayed her reaction, stating, "I wasn't even upset... I popped up. I'm not going to let anyone just do that to me."